In a wrongful death action in which a plaintiff alleges that fossil fuel industry defendants caused her mother’s death during the 2021 extreme heat event in the Pacific Northwest by engaging in deceptive conduct that delayed measures to mitigate climate change, a Washington Superior Court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. The court described the case as “factually distinguishable” from cases in which municipalities bring “claims for the ongoing and continuing effects of climate change.” The court instead described this case as “about a single individual and an allegation that a single weather event contributed to her untimely passing” and as seeking damages as opposed to prospective relief regarding future emissions. The court further stated that the plaintiff would be held to a theory of liability based on failure to warn Washington consumers and for deceptive marketing to Washington consumers. With the claims framed in this way, the court concluded that the state law claims were not preempted or precluded by the Clean Air Act or other federal law. In addition, the court found the claims were not non-justiciable political questions. The court stated that it was “skeptical” of the plaintiff’s ability to establish causation but found that causation was sufficiently alleged to survive a motion to dismiss.  The court also found that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged the application of the discovery rule for purposes of the statute of limitations; that the plaintiff properly pled both public nuisance and Washington Product Liability Act (WPLA) claims; that the WPLA did not preempt the public nuisance claim; and that the issue of whether the dangers were known or obvious was a disputed fact for purposes of the WPLA claim.

Lawsuit seeking damages and equitable relief from fossil fuel companies for allegedly causing the death of a woman who died during an extreme heat event in the Pacific Northwest in 2021. 

Leon v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

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Washington Trial Court Allowed Plaintiff to Proceed with Claims that Fossil Fuel Companies’ Deceptive Conduct Regarding Climate Change Led to Mother’s Death During 2021 Extreme Heat Event

Filed

United States of America

Washington

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Washington Trial Court Allowed Plaintiff to Proceed with Claims that Fossil Fuel Companies’ Deceptive Conduct Regarding Climate Change Led to Mother’s Death During 2021 Extreme Heat Event

Policy instrument

Fossil fuel

Economic sector